Drink and prostitution: The Belle Epoque HootersFrom "Victorian Paris" (https://victorianparis.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/drink-and-prostitution-the-belle-epoque-hooters/) Among the big headaches for municipal authorities of Paris in the second part of the 19th century was the appearance of the brasseries à femmes. Until then, drink and sex With the growth of the brasseries à femmes, the statistic of venereal disease shot up accordingly. Unlike registered prostitutes, waitresses were not subjected to medical control and, as there was no shame attached to entering such an establishment, many patrons, who would hesitate to be seen in a brothel, became victims of both drink and disease. Young men were the most at risk. Students and apprentices saw their future dissolve in excesses of drink to the chagrin of their parents and teachers. Patrons became attached to the girls and when a successful waitress crossed the river to “remake herself a virginity” on the opposite bank, some of her clients followed her like faithful dogs. Serving in a brasserie was no sinecure. Twelve hours a day in the noisy and smoky atmosphere, where the women were required not only to serve, but to sit at the tables and match the patrons drink for a drink, took a heavy toll on their health. Very few lasted more than ten years. The following is a questionnaire filled by an applicant from Marseille seeking a job in Paris:
Have you already served in brasseries? Yes, in Lyon and here. Are you young? I’m 24. Pleasant? Like a jewel. Pretty? See my photograph. Flirtatious? With art. I offer, I attract, and I hold. Do you have a good stomach?
She, no doubt, got the job. Why were these women so keen to apply for a work in which their health and morals suffered an irreparable damage? The answer, of course, is money. Morals set aside, a smart brasserie waitress made in a day the monthly wages of a factory worker. After many protests, a law put an end to the brasseries à femmes. With the exception of the owner’s family members, no other female employees were allowed to serve in these establishments. It was also forbidden for a waitress to drink with the patrons.
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